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C. H. FULLER.

BOAT DAVIT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5. I9I5.

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c. H. FULLER.

BOAT nAvlT.

APPUCATION FILED OCT- 5| 1915.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

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ATZ?? CHARLES HENRY FULLER, PORTLAND, REGQN.

BOAT-DAVIT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented new., s, raie.

Application led October 5, 1915. Serial No. 54,278.

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern Be it known that l, CHARLES HENRY FUL- Lnr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boat- Davits, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates generally to apparatus used on shipboard for raising and lowering life-boats.

@ne of the main objects of this invention is to provide improved apparatus of this character by means of which a life-boat may be lifted from its chocks and swung clear of the side of the vessel to such position that it may be dropped to the water in a manner not to be interfered with by the list of the vessel.

Another object is to provide boat davits which will be automatic in action, capable of operation by one man, and which may be controlled, in launching a boat, by the occupant of the boat.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is an elevation of the apparatus, showing the life-boat lifted from its checks and ready to be swung outward from the vessel; Fig. E2 is a right-end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. l. ln this view the davit arms have been swung to horizontal position so as' to place the boat clear of the vessel; Fig.V 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l, and showing the novel form of the eccentric brake-disk; and Fig. l is a fragmental leftend elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

a represents a vessel on which my boatdavits are used. Mounted on the deck of this vessel are the pedestals Zi, c, which form bearings for my device. A longitudinal shaft cZ is journaled in these pedcstals and rigidly mounted on the shaft are the davit arms e, e. The outer extremities of the latter are provided with box-like housings f, 7, in which are rotatably mounted the sheaves g and the fair-leaders h, located in transverse planes relatively to each other. An auxiliary sheave, z', is mounted in the housing f.

j represents a life-boat provided at its opposite ends with hook-eyes j. Boat-falls 7c, by which the boat is raised er lowered, are provided with davit-hooks c, adapted to engage the eyes j, and said falls run between the fair-leaders Zt and over the sheaves g to the winding drums Z, Z. Between the da-vitarms e, e and loosely mounted on the shaft cZ 1s a sleeve m, and the winding drums Z, Z are rigidly mounted on the ends of this sleeve. Fach drum is made with an integral brake drumn, n. Journaled in bearings 0, 0', beneath the shaft (Z, is a shaft g, and fixed on the latter, in vertical alinement with the brake-drums n, n are eccentric brake-disks p, p. Brake bands Q', g2 connect the drums n, a respectively, and the eecentric brake-disks p, p. A partial rotation of the shaft g will cause said eccentrics to be rotated so as to place the tension in the brake-bands and thus exert a braking action on the sleeve m. The brake operating means consist of a foot lever r pivoted on a bearing 1', and normally rocked counterclockwise by a tension spring r2. A lever arm 02 is fixed on one end of the shaft q, and a link r3 connects the end of the foot pedal r with said lever arm 02. A depression of the foot-pedal will rock the shaft g so as to release the brakes, said brakes being otherwise held in engagement by the spring r2.

Mounted on the deck of the vessel abutments e2, e3, which serve as stops to limit the clockwise rotation of the davit arms. See Fig. 2. A sheave c4 is mounted on the abutment e3 and a brake line s, running `over said sheaves e'i and t' has one end connected to the lever arm 02, the other end following looselv in the life-boat y'. When the occupant of the life-boat exerts a pull on the brake-line s, the winding drums Z, Z will be unbraked and the boat will drop by gravity; the speed of the drop being controlled by the brake-line s. v

@n the left end of the shaft (Z is fixed a sheave t. A pair of opposed tension coilsprings t are fixed on pivots t2. rl`he springs may extend below the deck, or they may be located in any other convenient position. ylhe outer ends of the springs are provided with cables Z't, which are fixed at the points t5 to opposite sides of the sheave t. These springs are so balanced that when in equilibrium the davit arms will be positioned off center, as shown in Fig. 4.

@n the right end of the shaft CZ is fixed a gear u and parallel to said gear, but loose on the shaft CZ, is a similar gear e. A gear e is integrally formed on the brake drum Z, and the gears e, 'v' are connected through the medium of gears Q12, e3, these latter being mounted on a shaft @t in the pedestal c.

vas

The gearl u is provided with an integral brake drum u. A foot lever w, pivoted'at w, is normally rocked counter-clockwise (see Fig. 2) by a tension coil-spring w2. A brake-band w3, encircling the brake-drum u, is connected to said foot lever so that normally the tension of the spring to2 will hold the brake in operative engagement, and thereby hold the shaft Z and davit arms e, e in any position. A depression of the footpedal w will release the brake. n

'Ihe pedestal .c is formed at its upper end with a bearing c in which is rotatably mounted ashaft a portion of which is of squared cross-section, as indicated byv The crank arm aZ-is adapted to engage the outerL end of the shaft so as to rotate the l latter,iand a gear g/ is slidably mounted on the squared portion of said shaft. A gear shiftV lever e, pivoted at e, isadapted to engage a shifter collar Vy of the gear y, so

that the operation of said gear shifter will move the gear g/ into engagement with either of the gears u or o, or both at the same time said gear being made with a face of sufficient width to 'permit of the latter engagement.

' The general operation of this type of boat davit is as follows: The life-boats may be mounted in checks inv any position on the deck'within range of the davit armsA e, e. The gear y is thrown into engagement with theA gear u, theV pedal w is then depressed, and the shaft Z rotated until the davit arms are in proper position over the life boat, whereupon the pedal w is released so as to hold the shaft Z in such position. The davit- 'hooks c are then engaged with theveyes j, the boat is loaded, the pedal depressed, and the shaft Z willbe automatically rotated by lthe unequal tension inthe springs t to the positionshown in Fig; 4. Gravity will then allow the davit arms and boat to drop to the position shown in Fig. 2.` The brake on the f windinoYP drums Z Z ma be then released Y bythe pressure on ythe foot pedal 1', or the brake-line s may be pulled by an occupant ofthe boat, thereby allowing the boat j to be lowered to the water entirely clear 0f the V,side lof the vessel,soY that any list ofthe latter 4will not be dangerous. Y

When a Vboat is to be raised from the water the gear shift lever e is moved in the Y position shown in Fig. l, so as to engage the Vgear jz/ with the gear o. The foot lever 1' is depressed so as to release the brake on the winding drums Z, Z, and the-crank m2 isy then operated so as to rotate thejsleeve fm, and thereby the drums Z, Z. The gear y may .beplacedin intermediate position so that it will be in lposition at the Sametime with both-gears ando, and inrthisY way it Yis g Y said main shaft `rotatable main shaft, davit arms fixed on said shaft, winding drums rotatable on said main shaft, and selective means for rotating said main shaft and winding drums inde'- pendently or in unison.

3. In a life-boat launching apparatus, a rotatable main shaft, davit arms fixed on said shaft, a tubular shaft rotatably mounted on said main shaft, winding drums fixed Von said tubular shaft, and means for holding said main shaft and tubular shaft in any position to which they have been rotated.

4. In a life-boat launching apparatus, a rotatable main shaft, davit arms fixed on said shaft, a tubular shaft rotatably mounted on said main shaft, and means for holding said main shaft and tubular shaft in any position to which they have been rotated.

5. In a life boat launching apparatus, the combination of companion shafts independently rotatable about a common axis, davit arms mounted on one of said shafts, and selective means for rotating said shafts independently or in unison.

6. In a life boat launching apparatus, the

.combination of companion shafts independently rotatable about a common axis, davit arms fixed on one of said shafts, winding drums fixed on the other of said shafts, selective means for rotating said shafts independently or in unison, said davit arms being provided on their outer ends with rboat-falls guiding elements, boat-falls conleaders, boat falls connected to said winding drums and running over said sheaves and fairV leaders, and means for holding and winding drums in any position to which they have been rotated. CHARLES HENRY FULLER.

Y Y Copies kof this patent may be .obtained V:for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. v l' Washngtom). C. 

